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KALLI, 



ESQUIMAUX CHRISTIAN 

% iMcmoir. 



BY THE 



REV. T. B. MURRAY, M. A. 

AtrmoB OF " pncAisN ; the isiand, the people, amd the pastoe." 



NEW-YORK: 



fltrnetal -l^cjtestant lEpiscopKl 5&. School janlon 
anti €f)urc|) 38oofe Society, 

T62 BROADWAY. 



PUBLISHED 



BY THE 



SUNDAY SCHOOL OF ST. MARY'S CHURCH, 

Soutf) ^ovtsmoutf), jKll)ot»e K»lan^. 



CONTENTS. 



Pagk. 
Description of Kallihirua, ----- 9 

Sir John Franklin, 

The Esquimaux, ------- 

Cape York, -------- 

On Board Ship, - ,--.--- 
Wolstenholme Sound, ------- 

Esquimaux Graves, ------- 

Sails for England, ------- 

Kalli in the Ship, ------- 

Native Hospitality, ------ 

Intrepidity of the Natives, ----- 

Esquimaux Dogs, ------- 

Character of the People, ------ 

Their Ideas of Religion, - - - - - 

Isolation of the Islanders, - - - - - 

Kalli' s Amiable Manners, - - - - - 

Loves Young People, ------ 

The British Museum, ------ 

Stoicism, --------- 

The Crystal Palace, ------ 

St. Augustine's College, ------ 

Hope in the Future, ------ 

Canterbury Cathedral, ------ 

Kalli' s Letter, ------- 

Kalli' s Illness, -------- 

Attention to Prayer, ------ 

Baptism of Kallihirua, ------ 

Ancient Font, _------ 

St. Martin's Church, 

Christian Names, ------- 

Missionary Work, ------- 

Water from the Jordan, - - 

Stanzas by the Warden, - - - - . - 



VIU CONTENTS. 

Pagb 

Esquimaux Vocabulary, ... - - 45 

Modes of Explanation, 46 

Kalli's Punctuality, 47 

His Study of Carpentry, 48 

Innocent Amusements, ----- 49 

St. John's, Newfoundland, ----- 50 

Flattering Testimonial, ----- 51 

Similarity of Dialects, ------ 52 

Archdeacon Bridge, ------ 53 

Zealous Labor and Death, ----- 54 

Prince Le Boo, ------- 55 

Failing Health, 56 

Kalli's Letter, 57 

Death of Kalli, 58 

Cause of his Death, ------ 59 

The B^hop's Testimony, ------ 60 

Resignation and Thankfulness, - - - - 61 

Last Moments, --62 

Kind Friends, -------63 

Funeral Services, ------- 64 

Mrs. Mountain's Letter, ----- 65 

Memorial Tablet, 66 

A Chapter of Sorrows, ------ 67 

Practical Reflections, ------ 68 

The Object of this Memoir, 69 

Conclusion, --------70 



KALLIHIRUA, THE ESQUIMAUX. 



;TO^ ALLIHIRUA, notwithstanding tlie dis- 
**^ advantages of person (for he was plain, 
and short of stature, and looked what he was 
— an Esquimaux), excited a feeling of inter- 
est and regard in those who were acquainted 
with his history, and who knew his docile 
mind, and the sweetness of his disposition. 

Compliance with the precept in the Old 
Testament, " Love ye the stranger,"* becomes 
a delight as well as a duty in such an instance 
as that about to be recorded, especially when 
we consider the affecting injunction conveyed 
in the Epistle to the Hebrews, « Be not for- 
getful to entertain strangers, for thereby some 
have entertained angels unawares."t 



• Deut. X. 19. t Heb. xiii. 2. 



10 SIR JOHN FRANKLIN. 

Erasmus Augustine York, whose native name 
was Kallihirua, was brought to England on 
board her Majesty's ship "Assistance," Cap- 
tain Erasmus Ommanney, in 1851. Captain 
Ommanney was second in command of the ex- 
pedition under Captain Horatio Austin, C. B., 
which was despatched in May, 1850, in search 
of the missing vessels of Sir John Franklin, 
the " Erebus" and Terror." 

Franklin quitted England on his perilous 
and fatal enterprise with 136 men and officers, 
in May, 1845. They passed the winter of 
1845-6 in a small cove between Cape Riley 
and Beechey Island, facing the entrance of 
Wellington Channel. It is said that a party 
of thirty or forty persons were seen to pass 
over King William's Island, near the mouth 
of the Great Fish River, in 1850, and they 
probably perished in that year. Many expe- 
ditions have been fitted out and despatched in 
search of the brave voyagers. Some interest- 
ing relics of their property were discovered 
by Dr. Rae in 1854, and brought to England. 



THE ESQUIMAUX. 11 

One fruit of these researches has been the dis- 
covery of a Northwest passage. 

Another result of these voyages of investi- 
gation is to be related in the following pages. 

Much interest was attached to the young 
Esquimaux, who was considered to be about 
sixteen years of age in August, 1850. He 
was one of a tribe inhabiting the country in 
the vicinity of Wolstenholme Sound, at the 
head of Baffin's Bay, in 76 deg. 3 min. north 
latitude, the nearest residents to the North Pole 
of any human beings known to exist on the 
globe. He was the only person ever brought 
to this country from so high a* northern lati- 
tude. His tribe was met with by the late Sir 
John Ross, during his voyage in 1818, and was 
by him called the Arctic Highlanders. 

The people called by us Esquimaux do not 
know that word, but style themselves Innuit. 
The word Esquimaux is a nickname given by 
a neighboring people, who were at war with 
them, and is supposed to mean, Raw fish^ 
eattrs. 



12 CAPE YORK. 

When the expedition under Captain Aus- 
tin's command was passing Cape York, in Au- 
gust, 1850, after its release from the ice in 
Melville Bay, natives were seen from the 
" Assistance." Captain Ommanney went with 
the " Intrepid " to communicate with them, 
when it was ascertained that H. M. S. " North 
Star " had passed the winter in the neighbor- 
hood. The fate of this vessel was then a 
matter of anxiety, as by her instructions she 
had been cautioned to avoid passing the win- 
ter in those regions. The tribe thus discov- 
ered consisted of only three families, residing 
in their summer huts at Cape York. As no 
steamer had ever before found its way to these 
seas, it was interesting to watch the impres- 
sion upon the singular beings now visited, 
when they descended into the engine-room. 
The large furnaces and machinery astonished 
them. The latter, on being put in motion, 
made them take to their heels with fright, 
and they ran out of the engine-room on deck 
as fast as they could. 



ON BOARD SHIP. 13 

It was after this first interview that the re- 
port was raised of the massacre of two ships' 
crews in 1846. Captain Ommanney, accom- 
panied by Captain Penny, with his interpre- 
ter, immediately returned to Cape York, and 
had a long interview with the natives. They 
most emphatically denied the whole statement, 
adding, that no ship had ever been on their 
coasts except the " North Star" and passing 
whalers. Then it was that Kallihirua con- 
sented to show Captain Ommanney where the 
" North Star" had wintered, and to join the 
ship, for the purpose of being useful as an in- 
terpreter, in the event of their meeting with 
any natives during the search for the missing 
expedition under Sir John Franklin. Part- 
ing (for a while, as he supposed) with his im- 
mediate relatives, and with the only people 
whom he knew on earth, he threw himself into 
the hands of strangers in perfect confidence. 
Having arrived on board the "Assistance," 
he put off his rough native costume, submitted 
to the process of a good washing, and, being 



14 WOLSTENHOLME SOUND. 

soon clad in ordinary European clothing, 
which was cheerfully contributed by the offi- 
cers, the young Esquimaux with much intelli- 
gence performed the duty of pilot to the place 
where the " North Star " had wintered. 

On entering Wolstenholme Sound, Kalli- 
hirua, or, as he was familiarly called, Kalli, 
(pronounced Kally), directed Captain Omman- 
ney and the officers to the late winter station 
of his tribe ; the spot having been abandoned 
in consequence of some epidemic, probably in- 
fluenza, which had carried off several per- 
sons. On entering the huts, a most distress- 
ing sight presented itself. A heap of dead 
bodies (about seven) lay, one over another, 
clad in their skin clothing, as if suddenly cut 
off by the hand of death. The survivors, 
from fear of infection, had quitted the spot, 
leaving the remains of their relatives unbur- 
ied. It was an affecting scene, in such a re- 
mote and desolate region, separated from all 
communication with the human race. Near 
the huts was the burial-ground, with several 



ESQUIMAUX GRAVES. 15 

well formed graves of heaps of stones. On 
one lay a spear, which one of. the officers of 
the "Assistance" took up to bring away. 
Some of the crew were busy examining the 
graves, to see whether they contained any of 
our missing countrymen. Seeing this, Kalli 
ran up to the officer, and, with tears and en- 
treaties, as well as he could make himself un- 
derstood, begged the officers and men to de- 
sist from the work of desecration. 

Poor Kalli's lamentations were at first quite 
heart-rending, but his feelings were, of course, 
respected ; the graves were at once built up 
again, and the spear replaced. Captain Om- 
manney learnt afterwards from Kalli, that it 
was his father's grave, over which the spear 
had been placed by the friends of the de- 
ceased. 

They have a tradition that in a future state 
the means of hunting are still required ; and, 
because in this world the search after food is 
the chief object of life, the hunting-lance is 
deposited on the grave. 



16 KALLI SAILS FOR ENGLAND. 

The young stranger subsequently lived on 
board the " Assistance." He was placed un- 
der the care of the serjeant of marines, who 
instructed him in the rudiments of reading 
and writing, and to whom he became much at- 
tached. By his amiable disposition he made 
himself welcome and agreeable to all the ex- 
pedition ; and, as, in consequence of the state 
of the ice, no opportunity was offered of land- 
ing him on his native shores, on the return of 
the vessel past York Inlet he was brought to 
England. 

The leaders of the expedition conferred 
the surname of York upon him, from the 
locality in • which he was found. To this 
the name of Erasmus was prefixed, after that 
of the gallant Captain Ommanney, the chief 
of his many friends. 

Kalli was a twin. His father, whose grave 
has been mentioned, had been dead for some 
years, but he had a mother living, of whom he 
spoke with duty and affection. His father's 
name was Kirshung-oak, his mother's Sa-toor- 



KALLI IN THE SHIP. 17 

ney. He had two sisters living with their 
mother. He often mentioned the boyish 
pranks of a younger brother, who was so full 
of mischief that he frequently made his father 
very angry. 

A touching circumstance connected with 
Kalli's first introduction to our countrymen 
has been adverted to, which gave rise to the 
following lines, written by the author of this 
memoir. They were published in the Gospel 
Missionary, in the year of the arrival of 
Kallihirua, and are supposed to be spoken by 
a British sailor on board the " Assistance :" 

KALLI IN THE SHIP. 

A frost, like iron, held the air, 

A calm was on the sea ; 
But fields oi ice were spreading there, 

And closing on our lee. 

Our ship half-bound, as if aground. 

Was scarcely seen to go. 
All hands on deck were gather' d round 

The little Esquimaux. 

For he had come amongst our crew, 
A wesk or so before ; 
%* 



18 KALLI IN THE SHIP. 

And now we knew not what to do 
To put him safe ashore. 

Poor lad, he strained his eyes in vain, 

Till tears began to come, 
To try if he could see again 

His mother and his home. 

The Captain then saw through his glass 

The Inlet and the Bay ; 
But floes of ice, as green as grass, 

And icebergs block' d the way. 

• "Up With the sail !— the wind's awake!" 

Hark to the Captain's call ; 
" I see, my boys, we shall not make 
York Inlet, after all." 

We look'd upon the swarthy lad, 
Then look'd upon each other, 

And all were sure that he was sad 
With thinking of his mother. 

We cheer' d him up ; and soon he grew 

So useful and so kind, 
The crew were glad, and Kalli too. 

He was not left behind. 

He learn'd to make the best of it ; 

And now, by time and care, 
They tell us he can read a bit. 

And say an easy prayer. 

O Kalli, fail not, day by day, 

To kneel to God above ; 
Then He will hear you when you pray, 

And guard you with his love. 



KALLI IN THE SHIP. 19 

Go on, my friend, in years and grace ; 

Your precious time employ ; 
And you will pass, in wisdom's race, 

The idle English boy. 

Nay, if you learn and practise too 

The lessons of your youth. 
Some heathen tribes may gain from you 

The light of gospel truth. 

It may liere be interesting to say a few words 
respecting the people who inhabit the gloomy 
abodes whence Kallihirua came, and where he 
had passed the greater part of his life. 

"The characteristic features of the Esqui- 
maux," said the late Admiral Beechey, "are 
large fat round faces, high cheek bones, small 
hazel eyes, eyebrows slanting like the Chi- 
nese, and wide mouths." They are generally 
under five feet high, and have brown com- 
plexions. Beechey, in his Narrative of a 
Voyage to Behring's Strait, &c., in H. M. S. 
"Blossom," gave a curious and particular de- 
scription of the habits and customs of the Es- 
quimaux, their wretched hovels or "yourts," 
snow dwellings, and underground huts, and 



20 NATIVE HOSPITALITY. 

the general want of cleanliness in their per- 
sons and dwellings. 

Speaking of a tribe which he visited, ho 
said, " We found them very honest, extremely 
good-natured and Tnendly. Their tents were 
constructed of skins, loosely stretched over a 
few spars of drift-wood, and were neither 
wind nor water-tight. The tents were, as 
usual, filthy, but suitable to the taste of their 
inhabitants, who no doubt saw nothing in 
them that was revolting. 

"The natives testified much pleasure at our 
visit, and they at once proceeded to place be- 
fore us several dishes, amongst which were 
two of their choicest — the entrails of a fine 
seal, and a bowl of coagulated blood. But, 
desirous as we were to oblige them, there was 
not one of our party that could be induced to 
partake of their hospitality. Seeing our re- 
luctance, they tried us with another dish, con- 
sisting of the raw flesh of the narwhal, nicely 
cut into lumps, with an equal distribution of 
black and white fat; but they were not more 



INTREPIDITY OF THE NATIVES. 21 

successful here, in their effort to gratify our 
tastes, than at first." 

The seal's flesh supplies the natives with 
their most palatable and substantial food, 
which, however, has a fishy flavor, as the 
creatures feed chiefly on fish. Seals are 
sometimes taken on land, when surprised 
basking in the sun, with their young. As 
soon as they are alarmed by the sight of their 
enemies, they scuttle away, and make for the 
sea. It is on the great deep that the Esqui- 
maux, driven by hunger, chiefly seeks his pre- 
carious food. In his light canoe, which is 
made of seal-skins stretched over a slight 
frame-work of wood, he hunts, in all weath- 
ers, for his prey, especially for the much- 
prized narwhal. 

There, tumbling in their seal-skin boat, 
Fearless, the hungry fishers float, 
And from the teeming seas supply 
The food their niggard plains deny. 

The same intrepid boldness is shown in 
their chase of the reindeer, the bear, and the 
fox. Over the boundless deserts of snow 



22 ESQUIMAUX DOGS. 

they are borne rapidly along by their faithful 
dogs, wliich are harnessed to a sledge, six or 
seven to the team, and which scamper away, 
often in seeming confusion, but with a precis- 
ion of aim and object which is perfectly sur- 
prising. No country presents a finer speci- 
men of that honest, affectionate, much endu- 
ring creature, the dog. Kindness to animals 
is always praiseworthy; and to the honor of 
the Esquimaux women it must be said, that 
they are remarked for their kind and gentle 
treatment of these dogs. They take care of 
them when they are ill, and use them better 
than the men do. Still, under blows and 
hard usage, the dogs are faithful, and willing 
to labor. 

The Esquimaux sometimes use slabs of ice 
for the walls of their huts, cementing them 
together with snow and water. Kennels for 
their dogs are also made of the same mate- 
rial. The late Admiral Sir W. Edward Par- 
ry, in the course of a voyage commenced in 
May, 1821, the chief object of which was the 



CHARACTER OF THE PEOPLE. 23 

discovery of the Northwest passage, availed 
himself of a winter's imprisonment in the ice 
to observe and record the ways and manners 
of the Esquimaux, whose guest he was. The 
account given by him is on the whole satisfac- 
tory. "I can safely affirm," said he, "that, 
whilst thus lodged beneath their roof, I know 
no people whom I would more confidently 
trust, as respects either my person or my 
property, than the Esquimaux." 

He also described their domestic character. 
The affection of the parents toward their 
children showed itself in a thousand ways; 
and the children, on their part, show so much 
obedience and docility as to render any kind 
of chastisement unnecessary. Even from 
their earliest infancy, they are said to possess 
that quietness of disposition, gentleness of 
demeanor, and uncommon evenness of temper, 
for which in more mature age they are for the 
most part distinguished. Disobedience is 
scarcely ever known: a word or even a look 
from a parent is enough. 



24 THEIR IDEAS OF RELIGION. 

These traits, added to industry, and endu- 
rance of various kinds of difficulty, form the 
fair side of the picture, such as that good 
man and distinguished officer was fond of 
presenting. The exhibition of these features 
of character was probably called forth, in a 
great degree, by his own kindness and good 
management, whilst living among them. But 
doubtless there are other and less favorable 
points of view in which these people must be 
sometimes considered. At all events, it is sad 
to learn, from the silence of some travellers, 
and the actual statements of others, that the 
Esquimaux appear to have but a faint idea of 
the existence of a Supreme Being, or to hold 
any distinct notion of religion. Separated 
from the whole civilized world, and frequent- 
ly finding it a struggle to live, even with the 
help of their faithful dogs, they are objects of 
pity and concern, rather than of sanguine 
hope and expectation to the Christian mind. 
But, were an opportunity to occur of carrying 
the Gospel to their snow-clad land, there is 



ISOLATION OP THE ISLANDERS. 25 

little doubt tliat the remark of Parry, ap- 
plied to an individual of one of their tribes, 
might be used of all : " On dispositions thus 
naturally charitable, what might not Chris- 
tian education and Christian principles ef- 
fect?" 

Certainly, the instance now before the 
reader affords a good illustration of this fa- 
vorable view of the Esquimaux character. It 
is Captain Ommanney's opinion that Kallihi- 
rua's tribe may be regarded as a remnant of 
the pure race which, no doubt, in ages past, 
migrated from Asia along the coasts of the 
Parry group of islands and Barrow's Straits. 
The features, and formation of the skull, be- 
speak Tartar extraction. "Their isolated po- 
sition," he adds, "being far north of the 
Danish settlements in Greenland, and far re- 
moved from the American continent, has kept 
them uncontaminated with any of the various 
mixed breeds of which the Esquimaux in those 
regions must be composed." 

Captain Ommanney, soon after his arrival 



26 KALLl'S AMIABLE MANNERS. 

in England, brought young Kallihirua to the 
Society for Promoting Christian Knowledge. 
At that time he could only speak a few words, 
such as « Ship ; " " Sea ;" " Very sick ;" 
" England, things very nice ;" " Captain very 
good." From his language and gesture it 
was gathered that he had sufiered much from 
sea-sickness on the voyage ; that he had been 
treated with the utmost care and kindness on 
board; and that he was highly pleased with 
the reception he had met with in this country. 
His manners were so gentle, and even po- 
lite, without any seeming effort, as to excite 
astonishment in those who knew how short a 
time he had enjoyed the advantages of educa- 
tion. It was clear that great pains had been 
taken with him on board the "Assistance," 
where his great study had been to adapt him- 
self to the habits and manners of those among 
whom his lot was so singularly cast. "In 
this," says Captain Ommanney, "he suc- 
ceeded, for people were surprised at his good 
address, when he reached England." 



LOVES YOUNG PEOPLE. 27 

He was always much pleased with the com- 
pany of young people, and appeared quite at 
home with them. Some books and prints 
were placed in the liands of the youth, and 
he expressed the greatest delight in seeing 
views of ships in the ice, and the figure of an 
Esquimaux watching for a seal. After gazing 
a few moments at the latter, he uttered a cry 
of pleasure, and said, " This one of my peo- 
ple!" It seemed as if, for a time, he had 
been carried back to his own land, which, 
however homely, was once his home. Had 
any proof been wanting of the faithfulness of 
the representation, his hearty and joyous ap- 
proval of it would have afforded sufficient evi- 
dence of its accuracy. 

We are told a man will sit quietly for ten 
or twelve hours together, at a temperature of 
thirty or forty degrees below zero, watching 
for the opportunity of killing and taking the 
seal, which is supposed to be at work making 
its hole beneath the ice. The Esquimaux, 
partly sheltered from the " winter's wind" 



28 THE BRITISH MUSEUM. 

and fast falling snow by a snow wall, has his 
spear and lines ready, and his knees tied to- 
gether, to prevent his disturbing the seal by 
making the slightest noise. 

Kalli, whilst in London, on a visit to the 
author, was taken to the British Museum. 
With some of the objects there he was much 
gratified. The antiquities, sculpture, gems, 
and specimens of art and science, had no 
charms in his sight. The life-like forms of 
stuffed quadrupeds and birds, in that great 
national collection, were the objects for him. 
With the seals, reindeer, and a gigantic wal- 
rus, with bright glass eyes, he was especially 
struck and amused, lingering for some time in 
the attractive apartment which contained them. 

He had, now and then, much to bear from 
rudeness and incivility on the part of some 
thoughtless persons, who derided his personal 
appearance, though they were not successful 
in putting him out of temper. The author 
recollects an instance of this in a street in 
London, He was walking with Kalli, when 



STOICISM. 29 

two young men, who ought to have known 
better, stared at the youth in passing, and 
laughed in his face ; then presently turning 
round, they said, as they pointed to him, 
"There goes a Chinese!" He merely looked 
up, smiling, as if at their ignorance and want 
of proper feeling. He was himself remark- 
ably courteous. 

It has been observed of the people of his 
nation, that they evince little or no surprise 
or excitement at such things as occasion admi- 
ration in others. When Kalli first came up 
the river Thames with Captain Ommanney, 
and travelled from Woolwich by the railway, 
thence proceeding through the wonderful 
thoroughfare from London Bridge to the 
West End of the town, passing St. Paul's 
Cathedral, and Charing Cross, he merely 
said, It was all very good, 

" I took him with me," said the Captain, 
"^ to the Great Exhibition at the Crystal Pal- 
ace, in Hyde Park. He beheld all the treas- 
ures around him with great coolness, and only 
3* 



30 THE CRYSTAL PALACE. 

expressed his wonder at the vast multitude of 
people." 

This is natural enough. Many of our read- 
ers may recall the feelings of astonishment 
with which they viewed that large assem- 
blage. On one of the shilling days, in Octo- 
ber, 1851, ninety-two thousand human beings 
were collected together in the Crystal Palace 
at one time.* The force of contrast could 
perhaps go no further than in this instance. 
A young stranger who, in his own country, 
within a space of several hundreds of miles 
around him, could only count three families 
(probably twelve persons), was seen to make 
one of a multitude of more than ninety thous- 
and of his fellow creatures, walking about in 
a building of glass, covering only eighteen 
acres of ground ! 

He was taken to the Horse Guards' sta- 
bles. On observing a trooper mount his 
charger (both being fully accoutred), Kalli 

* This was the case on Tuesday, Oct. 7, 1851. The 
total number of visitors on that day alone was 109,915. 



ST. AUGUSTINE'S COLLEGE. 31 

was puzzled. He could not account for the 
perfect order and discipline of the animal, and 
the mutual fitness of the man and his horse, 
the one for the other. 

In November, 1851, Kallihirua was placed, 
by direction of the Lords of the Admiralty, 
in the Missionary College of St. Augustine's, 
at Canterbury. This was done on the sugges- 
tion of the Society for the Propagation of the 
Gospel. 

St. Augustine's College, built on the site 
of the ancient monastery of St. Augustine, 
was established in 1848, for the reception 
of students intended for the work of the 
sacred ministry in the colonies and dependen- 
cies of the British Empire, as well as among 
the heathen. The College, to which the 
Queen gave a charter of incorporation, owes 
its origin chiefly to the munificence of A. J. 
B. Beresford Hope, Esq., who purchased the 
ground, and gave the site. The College 
Chapel was consecrated on the morning of 
St. Peter's Day, June 29th, 1848, when seven 



32 HOPE IN THE FUTURE. 

prelates, wifli the Arclibisliop of Canterbury 
at their head, were present. 

Kallihirua remained a student of the Col- 
lege, attending to the instruction given him, 
and conducting himself well and properly in 
all respects. Under the kind auspices of the 
Rev. H. Bailey, the learned and judicious 
warden of the College, who took the great- 
est interest in him, he availed himself, as far 
as his powers admitted, of the advantages of 
the institution. He appeared rightly to under- 
stand and value the blessings of education in 
a civilized community, and received with rev- 
erence the simple and saving truths of the 
Gospel. It was hoped that, should he will- 
ingly and intelligently embrace the Christian 
faith, he might, at no distant period, convey 
the " glad tidings of good things " as a mis- 
sionary or catechist to his own benighted 
friends and countrymen. 

In September, 1852, the warden, in a let- 
ter, informed the author that Kallihirua had 
been in good health all the summer. "We 



CANTERBURY CATHEDRAL. 33 

consider him," said he, "a youth of intelli- 
gence and quick observation. His progress 
in reading is necessarily slow, though he can 
manage words of four or five letters ; he is 
fond of writing, and succeeds very well. He 
is very devout at prayers, and attentive to the 
religious instruction given him. I think he 
will one day be of essential use to a mission- 
ary to some northern region. He is grateful 
to you for your kind offer, and will himself 
write a letter of acknowledgment." 

It was but a short time after his settling at 
St. Augustine's College, that one of the stu- 
dents took him to see Canterbury Cathedral. 
The reverent regard with which he had been 
taught to look upon a church, as a place 
where prayer was made to God, manifested 
itself in his inquiry, when entering the nave, 
" Whether he might cough there ?" This ten- 
dency to cough arising from an ailment, the 
seeds of which had probably been sown long 
before, was often observable, and he was very 
susceptible of cold. 



34 KALLI'S LETTER. 

In the spring of 1853 he suifered much 
from the variableness of the season. The 
mode in which he described his state to a 
friend is very simple and affecting. The original 
letter, which was entirely his own, both in 
composition and handwriting, is here copied 
verbatim. It commences, as will be seen, 
with his signature : — 

"E. YoKK, St. Augustine's College, April, 1853. 

" My dear Sir, 
" I am very glad to tell. How do you do, 
Sir? I been England, long time none very 
well. Long time none very well. Very bad 
weather. I know very well, very bad cough. 
I very sorry, very bad weather, dreadful. 
Country very difference. Another day cold. 
Another day wet, I miserable. 

" Another summer come. Very glad. 
Great many trees. Many wood. Summer 
beautiful, country Canterbury." 

Should any reader be disposed to look with 
the smile of a critic on this humble but gen- 



KALLl'S ILLNESS. 35 

nine effort, let him bear in mind the difficulties 
which poor English adults have to encounter 
in learning to read and write, and then let 
him judge of the obstacles in the way of one 
whose existence had been spent with his na- 
tive tribe, on stormy seas, on fields of ice, 
and in dark snow huts. 

In all attacks of illness he was attended 
with assiduous kindness by Mr. Hallowes, of 
Canterbury, the skilful surgeon employed by 
the College. Mr. Hallowes recollects only 
one occasion on which Kalli expressed any 
desire for the native food of his own country. 
When he had been suffering under a some- 
what protracted illness, and complained of 
being very sick and feeble, Mr. H. asked him 
whether there was anything which he would 
like, to do him good ; on which he replied, 
"A little walrus." The question was often 
asked by visitors, whether he ever felt an in- 
clination for seal-flesh, and other food common 
among the Esquimaux ; but his answer gene- 
rally was, that he liked mutton. His appetite 



86 ATTENTION TO PRAYER. 

was remarkably moderate, and some"v\'hat fas- 
tidious in meats, which he always liked to be 
well done. Much hospitality was shown to 
Kalli by Mr. Hallowes, among whose family 
circle, on Christmas-day, the good humored 
broad-faced Esquimaux was always to be seen. 
At their juvenile parties, the youth joined 
cheerfully in the sports of the children, and he 
sometimes sung them some of the wild and 
plaintive airs peculiar to his tribe. 

It is believed that Kalli never omitted his 
morning and evening prayers by his bed-side ; 
and his utterance was full of devout earnest- 
ness. Mr. Bailey remembers once travelling 
with him to Deal ; and while in the railway 
carriage, the youth quietly took out of his 
pocket a little book, which was afterward 
found to be a collection of texts for each day 
in the year. For some time he was reading 
thoughtfully the text for the day. No notice 
was taken of this to him ; and as for himself, 
never perhaps was any one more free from the 
least approach to ostentation. 



BAPTISM OF KALLIHIRUA. 37 

We now come to an important event in the 
history of Kallihirua — his baptism, which took 
place on Advent Sunday, Nov. 27th, 1853, in 
St. Martin's Church, near Canterbury. " The 
visitors present on that occasion," said an eye- 
witness, *« were, the Rev. John Philip Gell 
(late Warden of Christ's College, Tas- 
mania), accompanied by Mrs. Gell, daughter 
of the late Sir John Franklin ; Captain Eras- 
mus Ommanney, Ri N. (who brought Kallihi- 
rua to England), and Mrs. Ommanney ; Cap- 
tain Washington, R. N., of the Admiralty : 
and the Rev. W. T. Bullock. The Rev. T. B. 
Murray, Secretary of the Society for Promo- 
ting Christian Knowledge, who had been in- 
vited, was, in consequence of engagements in 
London, unfortunately unable to be present. 

" Toward three o'clock in the afternoon, 
small parties began to issue from the College 
gateway in the direction of St. Martin's, that 
picturesque little church, looking from its 
calm hill-side over the broad Stour valley, 
and over the cathedral and steeples of the 



38 ANCIENT FONT. 

town, half emerging from the smoke. In the 
interior of this oldest of the English churches 
there is an ancient font, which stands upon 
the spot (if it be not the very font itself) 
where King Ethelbert, the first fruits of the 
Anglo-Saxon race^ was baptized, more than 
twelve hundred and fifty years ago, by Au- 
gustine. 

" In the enclosure round this font sat Kalli- 
hirua and his ' chosen witnesses,' Captain 
Ommanney and the Sub-warden, Mrs. Bailey 
and Mrs. Gell. The remainder of the church 
was quite filled with an attentive and appa- 
rently deeply interested congregation, many 
of them of the poorer class, to whom Kalli was 
well known, either by face (as indeed he could 
not well fail to be), or as the comrade of 
their children in tlie spelling class at school. 

"After the Second Lesson, the warden 
proceeded to the font, and the baptismal 
service commenced. Kallihirua, as an adult, 
made the responses for himself, and in a clear, 
firm tone, which seemed to intimate that he 



ST. martin's ciiuucn. 



39 




40 CHRISTIAN NAMES. 

had made his choice for once and for ever, 
that he had cast in his lot with us, and taken 
our people for his people, and our God for his 
God, and felt, with an intelligent appreciation, 
the privilege of that new brotherhood into 
which he was admitted. 

" May his admission within the pale of 
Christ's Holy Church be (as was the prayer 
of many beyond the walls of St. Martin's on 
that day) both to himself and to many of his 
race, an event pregnant of eternal issues ! 
'May the fulness of God's blessing,' to use 
the words of one of our most valued friends, 
'rest upon it, and make it the first streak of 
a clear and steady light, shining from St. Au- 
gustine's into the far North.' The Chris- 
tian names added to his original Esquimaux 
name, were ' Erasmus,' after Captain Omman- 
ney, and 'Augustine,' in remembrance of the 
College. 

" The service being concluded, an excellent 
sermon was preached by the Eev. J. P. Gell, 
on the text, Isaiali Ixv. 1 : ' I am sought of 



MISSIONARY WORK. 41 

them that asked not for me ; I am found of 
them that sought me not ; I said. Behold me, 
behold me, unto a nation that was not called 
by my name.' Afterward the same kind 
friend attended our Sunday evening meeting 
in the warden's house, and gave us some in- 
teresting details of the missionary work (in 
which he had himself borne a part) in Van 
Diemen's Land. The drift of his remarks 
was to give encouragement to the principle of 
steady, faithful, persevering energy, undamped 
by early difficulties, and not impatient of the 
day of small things, and to show, by convincing 
examples (especially that of Mr. Davis, a de- 
voted missionary in that country), how such 
conduct is sure, in the end, to meet with a 
success of the soundest and most permanent 
kind, because founded on the spontaneous 
sympathy of the people, and on the blessings 
of the poor, « not loud but deep.' 

" Kallihirua had received a very handsome 
present, in the shape of a beautifully bound 
Bible and Prayer Book, as a baptismal gift 



42 WATER FROM THE JORDAN. 

from the Society for Promoting Christian 
Knowledge." 

It may be interesting to add, that the wa- 
ter used in the baptism was from the river 
Jordan, and that it had been brought thence 
by Captain Ommanney himself. 

In the Gospel Missionary for February, 1854, 
was a pleasing description of the Baptism 
of Kallihirua: and this was the sound and 
practical conclusion : 

" Before we conclude, we may, perhaps, ex- 
press the hope that our young friends will 
sometimes think kindly of their new Christian 
brother, Erasmus Augustine Kallihirua, 
and that they will pray that God will bless 
diim, and make him to advance more and more 
in the knowledge and the love of his dear Son, 
Jesus Christ. When they thus think of him 
who is now made their own brother by bap- 
tism, and is thus brought into the family of 
Christ's people, let them learn to value the 
good things which God has given them in such 
rich abundance. Let them be thankful that 



BTANZAS BY THE WARDEN. 43 

they were born in a Christian countiy, in 
which they have been taught from childhood 
to know the Holy Scriptures, which are able 
to make them wise unto salvation, through 
faith which is in Christ Jesus." 

The following stanzas, written by the War- 
den on the occasion of the baptism, will be 
read with pleasure, especially by those who 
are aware how faithfully the amiable writer of 
them fulfilled his part in preparing Kallihirua, 
not only for the right performance of such 
duties as seemed to await him in life, but 
(what was far more important) for an early 
death. 

THE BAPTISM OF KALLIHIHUA. 

" I WILL TAKE YOU ONE OP A CITY, AND TWO OF A FAMILY, 

AND I WILL BRING YOU TO ZiON."— Jer. iii. 14. 

Far through the icy bound 
Of Greenland's barren shore, 
At duty's call, on mercy sent. 
The brave are gone before. 

Beyond the haunts of men 
They urge their tedious way, 
When lo ! a wandering tribe appears 
By yonder northern bay. 



STANZAS BY THE WARDEN. 

But who so wild, so lost 
In ignorance and sin ! 
No God they know, no Saviour own ; 
Is there a soul to win ? 

Yes, in that heathen race 
One heart at least is found 
That yearns for better things, by grace 
In unseen fetters bound. 

Warm is the Christian's heart, 
Outstretch'd the Christian's hand, 
" Assistance " lends her friendly aid 
To reach a Christian land. 

In this our calm retreat 
He finds a peaceful home. 
Is taught such learning as is meet, 
In store for years to come. 

He learns to know and love 
His Saviour and his God ; 
And now he is a brother dear, 
By ikith in Jesus' blood. 

O gracious Spirit ! hear 
Our prayer with one accord, 
And train this new-born Christian heart 
In thy most holy Word, 

Have pity on his race ! 
And bring them still to see 
Their wretched state, and teach thena all 
The Father, So^^ aud Thee ! 



ESQUIMAUX VOCABULARY. 45 

To God the Father, Son, 
And Spirit, glory be. 
Who call'd, and saved, and sanctifies, 
The co-eternal Three ! 

Some of these verses were sung in the 
college chapel on the evening of Advent Sun- 
day, 1853. 

It was in the same year that Kalli rendered 
essential service in the preparation of a Green- 
land Esquimaux Vocabulary, for the use of the 
Arctic Expedition of that year. The work 
was printed by direction of the Lords of the 
Admiralty, with a short preface acknowledg- 
ing the advantage of his assistance. Captain 
Washington, R. N., hydrographer of the Ad- 
miralty, says in the preface, " Every word has 
now been revised from the lips of a native. 
In the Midsummer vacation, in 1852, Kallihi- 
rua passed some days with me, and we went 
partly over the vocabulary. I found him in- 
telligent, speaking English very fairly, docile, 
and imitative ; his great pleasure appearing to 
be a pencil and paper, with which he drew 
animals and ships. In the Christmas holi- 



46 MODE OF EXPLANATION. 

days we revised more of the vocabulary. 
On his return to Canterbury, the Rev. H. 
Bailey, with the assistance of Dr. Rost, Pro- 
fessor of Sanskrit at the college, kindly 
undertook to complete it." 

The warden said, "In my preparation of 
the vocabulary with Kalli, I was often struck 
with the combination of humor, ingenuity, 
and patience, which he showed in explaining 
the terms on which we were engaged in suc- 
cession. He had clever devices in describing 
any native operation, by means of tlie objects 
on tlie table, or in the room ; and he seemed 
never to tire of repeating his description till 
it was thoroughly understood." 

A member of the expedition afterward 
visited St. Augustine's College, and stated 
that the vocabulary had been found to be of 
much service. 

The writer of this memoir well recollects 
the circumstances of a visit which he paid, 
with his family, to St. Augustine's College, 
Canterbury, on a bright day in August, 1853, 



KALLl'S PUNCTUALITY. 47 

wheu (it being the vacation) only three 
students remained in residence. These were 
1. Kallihirua; 2. a young Hindoo, by name 
Mark Pitamber Paul; and 3. Lambert Mc- 
Kenzie, a youth of color, a native of Africa. 
Kalli, who was the only one of these person- 
ally known to the author, did not at first 
appear. He had strolled out to witness a 
cricket match in a field near Canterbury ; but 
Blunsom, the college porter, said that he 
had promised to return by two o'clock, and 
that he was very punctual. 

It is here due, both to Blunsom and his wife, 
to say that they were most kind friends to 
Kalli, watching over him with the most 
thoughtful attention and the tenderest care. 
As the Cathedral clock struck two, Kalli 
entered the college gates. With hair black 
as the raven's wing, and eyes sparkling with 
good humor, he made his appearance, and 
Boon showed a desire to do the honors of the 
college. His dress was neat, like that of a 
young English 'gentleman, and he had a 



48 HIS STUDY OP CARPENTRY. 

gaiety of look and manner, but far removed 
from foppery of apparel or demeanor. With 
true politeness — that of the heart — he accom- 
panied the visitors over the library, the chap- 
el, the common hall, and the dormitories of 
the college ; each student having a small bed- 
room and study to himself. Kalli took great 
pleasure in exhibiting the carpenter's shop, a 
spacious crypt below the library. Attention 
was there called to the wooden frame of a 
small house, in the construction of which, it 
appeared, he had borne a part. He said, when 
asked, that he should most probably find the 
knowledge of carpentering valuable some day, 
and that he should like to teach his country- 
men the many good and useful things which 
he had learned in this college. He spoke 
little, and was evidently conscious of his im- 
perfect pronunciation ; but, in answer to a 
question on the subject, he said he hoped to 
tell his people about religion, and the truths 
of the Gospel which he had been taught in 
England. 



INNOCENT AMUSEMENTS. 49 

His amusements were of a quiet and inno- 
cent kind. He was fond of drawing ships, 
and figures of the seal, the walrus, the rein- 
deer, the Esquimaux dog, and other objects 
familiar to him in the Arctic regions. 

His sketches of animals and ships were 
very correct, and he used sometimes to draw 
them for the amusement of children. When on 
board the "Assistance" he made a good sketch 
of the coast line of the region which his tribe 
frequented, from Cape York to Smith's Sound. 
He also made small models of his country 
sledges, one of which, a very creditable per- 
formance, is in the museum in the college 
library ; and a rough rustic chair, now in the 
college garden, is of his manufacture. 

The use which he made of the needle must 

not be forgotten. For a year and a half, 

whilst at Canterbury, he went regularly, for 

five hours a day, to a tailor, to learn the trade, 

and was found very handy with his needle. 

He proved to be of much use in the ordinary 

work of the trade. 

5 



50 ST. John's, Newfoundland. 

Some of bis vacations, or portions of them, 
were passed among friends, who were glad to 
receive him into their houses. 

The time having now arrived at which, 
according to tlie Opinion of the Bishop of 
Newfoundland, and the w^arden of St. Augus- 
tine's, the qualifications of Kallihirua might 
be turned to some account, as an aid to mis- 
sionaries, in their efforts among the Esquimaux 
of Labrador, he left England, in the autumn 
of the year 1855, for further training at St. 
John's, Newfoundland. This step was taken 
at the expense of the Admiralty, who agreed 
to allow him £26 a year for three years. 

The following notice of his character ap- 
peared in the " Ocasional Paper," published in 
St. Augustine's College, at the time of his re- 
moval to Newfoundland. At every step of 
his short but remarkable course, such willing 
testimony always awaited him. 

" Kallihirua, whose name is known as 
widely as that of his college, has arrived at 
another crisis in his eventful history. Hav- 



FLATTERING TESTIMONIAL. 51 

iag resided more than three years in col- 
lege, he has been transferred to the expe- 
rienced care of the Bishop of Newfoundland, 
with the view to his probable usefulness 
among the Esquimaux of Labrador. If integ- 
rity of moral principle, gentleness of spirit, 
docility of manners, willingness to be use- 
ful, and true Christian politeness, are essen- 
tial requisites in a missionary, then is Kalli- 
hirua certain to fill his place well, if only 
the right place is found for him." 

Kalli arrived in St. John's, Newfoundland, 
on the 2d October, 1855, and on the follow- 
ing day wrote a letter to Captain Omman- 
ney, telling him that he had suffered on the 
voyage from the motion of the vessel, which 
had caused severe headaches. He added, 
" St John's puts me in mind of my own 
country. I have already found a great num- 
ber of kind friends, and feel so happy." 

He was immediately admitted into the col- 
lege of the Theological Institution for fur- 
ther training ; and it was the Bishop's inten- 



52 SIMILARITY OF DIALECTS. 

tion to have taken him, in the summer of 
1856, in the Church ship, to the coast of Lab- 
rador, with the view particularly of compa- 
ring his language with that of the Esquimaux 
on the American continent, who are included 
under the government, and consequently in 
the diocese of Newfoundland. 

That he was not unfitted for this task ap- 
pears from a passage in the preface to the 
Greenland Esquimaux Vocabulary. Captain 
Washington observes : " On comparing the 
Labrador with the Greenland dialect of the 
Esquimaux, it was found that nearly one half 
the words given by Mr. Platon were similar 
to the former. On going over the vocabu- 
lary with Kallihirua, generally speaking he 
recognized the Greenland word. When he 
did not do so, the Labrador Was mentioned, 
which, in most cases, he caught at directly. 
These words have been added. There would 
thus appear to be even a greater degree of 
similarity between the Labrador and Green- 
land dialects than might have been expectedj 



ARCHDEACON BRIDGE. 53 

and it is evident that the Greenland dialect, 
as Mr. Platon states, is spoken by all the Es- 
quimaux to the head of Baffin's Bay." 

Kalli had some conversation with a Mora- 
vian missionary from Labrador. The lan- 
guage was in most respects similar, though 
there was evidently a difficulty in understand- 
ing each other. 

It may be mentioned, as a circumstance of 
melancholy interest, that, besides Kallihirua, 
the late venerable T. F. H. Bridge, Arch- 
deacon of Newfoundland, was to have accom- 
panied and assisted the Bishop in this voyage, 
which it was proposed should have extended 
to the Moravian settlement. Moravian mis- 
sions have been established in Greenland for 
more than a century; but the expedition 
contemplated by the Bishop was more partic- 
ularly designed to open Sandwich and Esqui- 
maux Bays to the much needed missionary. . 

These projects, it was determined in the good 
providence of God, were not to be realized. 
4rchdeacon Bridge was prematurely carried 



54 ZEALOUS LABOR AND DEATH. 

off, in the midst of his zealous and successful la- 
bors, at the end of February, 1856. "He work- 
ed himself to death," said the Bishop. " His 
death was felt in the colony as a public loss." 

The author of this memoir had written to 
Kallihirua, whilst he was at St. Augustine's, 
and had received from him a letter, shortly 
and plainly expressed, which the warden sta- 
ted to have been composed and written by the 
youth himself, and which proved how anxious 
he was to do well that which was given him 
to do. The person to whom this letter was 
written often thought of the amiable Kalli, 
and was in hopes of soon hearing from him in 
his new abode in Newfoundland. But man 
proposeth and God disposeth. A St. John's 
paper. The Newfoundland Express^ sent by the 
Bishop in June, 1856, conveyed the intelli- 
gence that Kallihirua had passed away from this 
busy, anxious world, to another, and we humbly 
and reasonably hope, a better and happier. 

A melancholy interest generally attaches 
to the history of individuals d^^ing in a foj*- 



PRINCE LE BOO. 55 

eign and strange land, far from friends and 
home. The separation from all they have 
known and loved is, in their case, so entire, 
the change of their circumstances, habits, and 
associations, so great, that such a dispensation 
specially appeals to the sympathy of all 
Christian hearts. 

Feelings of this kind arc excited by the 
narrative of the early death of Prince Le 
Boo, a youthful native of the Pelew Islands, 
who was brought over to this country in July, 
1784, and who, in the spring-time of life, 
after little more than five months' stay in Eng- 
land, fell a victim to the small-pox. In the 
memoir of that young prince, who died at 
Rotherhithe, and was buried in the church- 
yard there, in December, 1784, there are some 
points of resemblance to the case under our 
notice. The natural and unforced politeness 
of the youth ; his aptness in conforming, in 
all proper things, to the habits and customs of 
those to whose hospitality he was entrusted ; 
his warm and single-hearted affection for such 



56 FAILING HEALTH. 

persons, in whatever station, as showed him 
kindnesses ; his desire for mental improve- 
ment; his resignation and submission in his 
last illness to the will of God ; these are fea- 
tures which remind us of the subject of our 
present . memoir. Many are the tears which 
have fallen over the story of the young and 
amiable Prince Le Boo. 

But to resume the thread of the narrative 
respecting Kalli. During the winter of 1855 
md A856 he had suffered frequently from 
tough, and shown other signs of constitu- 
tional weakness. His cheerfulness, however, 
had seldom failed him ; his readiness to please, 
and be pleased, to oblige, and be obliged, 
never. In letters which he sent to friends in 
England, he always spoke with gratitude of 
ihe affectionate friendship sliown him, and 
of being very happy. 

The following letter to Mr. Blunsomj who, 
as it will have been fccen, had treated him 
with constant kindness, a.^d done him much 
good service, will be read with interest. 



KALLI'S LETTER. 57 

" St. John's College, N€7v/oundland^ 
January 7, 1856. 

" I received your kind letter by the Decem- 
ber mail, and am very sorry to hear of your 
illness. The weather here is very cold ; I feel 
it more than at Cape York. I have begun to 
skate, and find it a pleasant amusement. 
There is a lake a little distance from the col- 
lege, called, « Quidi Vidi,' on which we prac- 
tise. The Bishop is very kind and good to 
me. College here is not so large and fine a 
place as St. Augustine's ; nor are there so 
many students. I hope that all my kind 
friends at Canterbury are quite well. Please 
remember me kindly to Mr. and Mrs. Gipps, 
and all at St. Augustine's. With kind love 
to yourself, 

"I remain, yours affectionately, 

"Kalli." 

With respect to the fatal attack under 
which he soon sunk, it is to be mentioned, 
that he had gone out to bathe with one of his 
fellow students at St. John's, on Saturday, the 



58 DEATH OP KALLl. 

7th June. From continuing too long in the 
water, wliich was very cold, he caught a chill, 
and showed many symptoms of inflammation 
for some days. On Wednesday, good medical 
assistance was called in, but his constitu- 
tion had received too violent a shock. The 
surgeon had fears from the first that his pa- 
tient would not recover. It has been observed 
by medical men, that Esquimaux have but lit- 
tle stamina, and generally fail under the first 
attack of serious illness. Kalli was kindly 
watched, and assisted by the Rev. J. G. Moun- 
tain and Mrs. Mountain, and his fellow stu- 
dents. He got rapidly worse. On the Thurs- 
day he seemed utterly powerless, and could 
not lift up his arms, nor put them out of his 
bed. He was very restless during the greater 
part of Friday night. 

" Soon after ten o'clock on Saturday morn- 
ing, June 14th," said the Bishop of New- 
foundland, " his gentle soul departed. I saw 
him frequently during his illness (three times 
the last day), and he always assented most 



CAUSE OF HIS DEATH. 59 

readily, when I reminded him of God's gra- 
cious goodness in visiting him, and that it 
would be better for him to depart, and be 
with Christ. It was remarkable that his 
English Avas more clear and distinct in his ill- 
ness than I had ever known it ; and though he 
said but very little, he seemed to understand 
better than ever before. The last seizure was 
so sudden and violent that he did not articu- 
late at all. He expired while I was com- 
mending his soul to his faithful Creator and 
most merciful Saviour." 

He is stated to have died of " melanosis of 
he lungs," a disease in which the whole sub- 

a-nce of the lungs turns completely black. 
It is very slow in its first advances, but fear- 
fully rapid in its latter stages. The Bishop 
had the chest examined after death, and sent 
a copy of the surgeon's report to the warden 
of St. Augustine's. 

In a full communication made to the war- 
den, the Bishop said: "The almost sudden- 
ness of our good gentle Kalli's removal makes 



r 

60 



it difficult to realize the fact that ' he is gone.' 
I still look for his familiar strange face among 
the students, wondering at his unwonted 
absence. He seemed quite identified with our 
little company. We all miss him greatly ; 
but he has now entered on that perfect rest 
which he seemed made for, and is delivered 
from a troublesome, naughty world, for which 
he was certainly not made." 

The Bishop also spoke of Kalli's submission 
to those set over him ; his kindness to all around 
him ; and his attention to all his religious du- 
ties. 

Many young persons, born and bred in our 
own country, and brought up from the cradle 
in the very midst of Christian instruction, 
may glean a valuable lesson from the charac- 
ter of this lamented Esquimaux Christian. 
They may ask themselves, with some feeling 
of self-reproof, whether they should have 
merited such praise from one so revered, and 
so well qualified to judge ? " Perhaps," 
added Bishop Feild, " I was a little proud at 



RESIGNATION AND THANKFULNESS. 61 

being able to exliibit a far-off Esquimaux 
brought near, and among my own scholars." 

During Kalli's last illness, which, though 
short, was not without considerable suffering, 
the same spirit of resignation and thankful- 
ness which he had always shown, was evinced, 

"Mr. D very kind," "K very 

kind," "Mrs. very kind," "Sorry to 

give so much trouble," were expressions con- 
tinually on his lips, as he was visited and 
assisted by his fellow students, and other 
friends in succession. His gentle spirit de- 
parted in the presence of the Bishop, the Rev. 
Thomas Wood, the Rev. Principal of the Col- 
lege, and all his fellow students. 

The Rev. J. F. Phelps, Vice-Principal of 
St. John's College, Newfoundland, who had 
beei} a fellow student of Kalli's at St. Augus- 
tine's, wrote thus, June 25, 1856, respecting 
him: 

"I have every reason to believe and hope 

that he has been translated to a better state, 

aad that he now rests in his Saviour; for 
6 



62 LAsrr moments. 

though he had not much knowledge, yet few 
indeed act up to their knowledge so well and 
consistently as he did to his. It must be a 
comfort to you, Sir, to be assured that in his 
last moments he was cared for, and attended 
by all members of the college here; the 
students constantly being with him, as well as 
Mr. and Mrs. Mountain and myself. Ho 
showed himself very grateful for all that was 
done for him, and expressed great sorrow at 
giving so much trouble. He always spoke of 
his friends in England with great affection, 
and was delighted whenever he received 
letters from them, which he was always eager 
to answer. Altogether, his was a very amia- 
ble character, and we all felt his loss very 
much." 

In another letter from Mr. Phelps is the 
following passage : 

" During his last illness, in his conversation 
with me, it was evident that he quite under- 
stood the principle on which we Christians 
ought to bear our sufferings patiently, and 



KIND FRIENDS. 03 

even thankfully, because of the still greater 
sufferings which we deserve, and which our 
Divine Saviour bore for us. I was, I confess, 
surprised at the readiness with which he 
realized the truth and the force of this reason- 
ing." 

The author had often remarked the very 
grateful manner in which the youth acknowl- 
edged any kindness shown toward him. He 
spoke with the utmost affection of his dear 
friends. Captain Ommanney, Captain Austin, 
R. N., the Rev. the Warden of St Augustine's 
College, and Mrs. Bailey. Mrs. Bailey, he 
said, taught him constantly his readings in 
the New Testament, heard him his hymns, and 
corrected his writing exercises. The Rev. A. 
P. Moor, sub-warden of the college, was also 
very kind to him, and gained his regard. 

Of the moderate means placed at his dis- 
posal he was always properly careful, expend- 
ing very little upon himself. He had a few 
pounds laid up in the savings' bank at Can- 
terbury. This amount, together with his 



64 FUNERAL SERVICES. 

humble store of goods and chattels, consisting 
chiefly of the prints which had adorned his 
room, he left, by a kind of will, to his unti- 
ring and constant friend. Captain Ommanney, 
in token of gratitude and regard. 

The remains of Kallihirua were borne to 
the grave by his fellow students, and followed 
by the vice-principal of the college, and by 
the Bishop of Newfoundland, as chief mourner. 
The burial service in the church (St. Thomas') 
was conducted by the 'Rev. Mr. Wood, and in 
the cemetery by the Rev. J. G. Mountain, the 
principal of the college. The quiet solemnity 
of the service was in keeping with the life and 
death of the gentle Kalli. 

Mrs. Mountain, of St. John's, Newfound- 
land, in whose house he lived, and who had 
kindly assisted in instructing him, wrote as 
follows : 

" It is in sincere sorrow and mourning that 
1 write to inform you that we yesterday fol- 
lowed to the grave our poor Erasmus Kallihi- 
rua. He died after only a few days' illness, 



MRS. mountain's LETTER. 65 

brought on by incautiously going out to bathe 
with one of our other students. On the fol 
lowing day, when he came to me to read, as 
usual, he complained of great pain in the 
chest and side ; and so rapid was the inflam- 
mation, that the usual remedies were una- 
vailing. 

" Poor fellow, he was as patient and gentle 
during his illness as he always was when he 
was well and strong, and expressed perfect 
resignation to God's will, and much thankful- 
ness to those who ministered to him. We all 
loved him for his unvarying kindness^ and 
gentleness, his submission to those set over 
him, and his willingness to serve all. I miss 
him so very much, not only in his daily les- 
sons, but in his constant knock at our door, 
to know whether I had any thing for him to 
do in the garden, or a message in the town, 
when lie was going out for a walk. 

" He looked very nice, lying in his silver- 
white coflfin, covered with flowers, and a bunch 

of lilies and wild pear-blossoms on his bosom. 
6* 



QQ MEMORIAL TABLET. 

We trust that he was one of the blessed meek 
who inherit the earth. We were all with him 
when he breathed his last, the Bishop, and 
the Principal of St John's College, commend- 
ing his soul to his faithful Creator." 

It is proposed to inscribe a record of Kalli, 
and of other deceased students of St. Augus- 
tine's College, on a tablet in the crypt under 
the college chapel. A memorial stone will 
be erected over Kalli's grave in St. John's, 
Newfoundland. 

With refereuce to the decease of some 
hope^^il students of St. Augustine's, who, after 
giving promise of much usefulness in the cause 
of missions, had been removed from this 
earthly scene, Mr. Phelps observed, in a let- 
ter printed at the St. Augustine's College 
Press : 

" The whole college is again reminded 
that ' all flesh is grass,' and that our life ' is 
even a vapor, that appeareth for a little time 
and then vanisheth away.' Poor Kalli is no 
longer with us. He has been made fit for the 



A CHAPTER OF SORROWS. 67 

Master's use, and has been taken back by Him 
who lent him to us." 

In addition to the many bereavements which 
the Bishop of Newfoundland has since been 
called to sustain, and to which he has feelingly 
alluded in letters to the Society for Promo- 
ting Christian Knowledge, may be mentioned 
the death of the Rev. J. Gl. Mountain, the 
Principal of St. John's College, who had, 
shortly before he was himself summoned hence, 
followed Kalli to the grave. Mr. Mountain, 
who was a grandson of the first Bishop of 
Quebec, and a nephew of the present Bishop 
of that Diocese, had been, on the death of 
Archdeacon Bridge, appointed Incumbent of 
the Cathedral Church of St. John. He was 
much beloved and respected. 

" Mine," said the Bishop, " has been nothing 
but a chapter of sorrows and trials this year ; 
I lament to say we are still reading it, and J 
trust that we may hereafter profit by }t. You 
have heard, of coursCj of our grievous losses : 
none of them have been supplied T^ithoiit' 



68 PRACTICAL REFLECTIONS. 

making other gaps. These losses and trials, 
as they so injuriously affect the sheep, are 
most painful to the shepherd." 

The writer in tlie Newfoundland Express 
made the following practical reflections on 
Kalli's early death, which suggest serious 
though cheering thoughts : 

" It may seem to some persons but folly, 
and to others but mere boasting, to point to 
this young man as any fruit of, or recompense 
for, the costly and calamitous Arctic expedi- 
tions ; but others may not think it all in vain, 
if thereby one soul has been saved, and an ex- 
ample left to a few young men, of thankful- 
ness and kindness to men, duty and devotion 
toward God. Such was Erasmus Augustine 
Kallihirua : once a poor benighted Esquimaux, 
but brought out of darkness into the marvel- 
lous light of the Gospel, to be a pattern to 
some, who, with much greater advantages, 
are far inferior in the best graces of the 
Christian." 

All that has been written will tend to show 



THE OBJECT OP THIS MEMOIR. 69 

that Kallihirua was held in much esteem and 
affection by those who knew him, and that 
some tribute (such as even this little memoir 
may afford) is due to the memory of one who 
was well called " Erasmus," or " beloved." 

This, however, is not the chief object in 
presenting an account of Kalli's short career 
among his adopted countrymen. The author 
would fain convey, amidst other wholesome 
lessons, that of the uncertainty of life, and the 
necessity of working while it is day. When 
we reflect on the departure of one whose face 
and figure still dwell in the minds of many of 
us, it will be wise to remember that we our- 
selves are making for the same point of our 
journey, the concluding scene of this short ex- 
istence, the end of our probation. How in- 
significant do all other events appear, com- 
pared with the close of the race, and the ar- 
rival at the looked-for goal ! May God grant 
us grace to act constantly on this conviction, 
as to all our plans and prospects ! 

We may also learn, from the history before 



70 



CONCLUSION. 



US, the great duty of making missionary efforts, 
of holding forth among the heathen the Word 
of Life, and testifying the praises of Him who 
hath called us out of darkness into His mar- 



vellous light. 




PARISH LIBRARY. 



(BOUND IN MUSLIN.) 



Anjjd's Repormation in Sweden, By Dr. Mason, $1.25 

The Catacombs of Rome, By Bp. Kip, 65 

Companion to tiie Pkater Book, By Bp. Hobart, 40 

Tracts for Missionary Use, By Dr. Lay, 1 vol 1.00 

Help to Reading the Bible, By Nichols, 75 

Readings for Every Day in Lent. Miss Sewell 75 

IfoTB.— The following Books of the Parish Library are also contained 
In the 8. School Library. 

The Early Called, By Dr. Lewis, 25 

Evidences of Revealed Religion, By Dr. Richardson, . .80 

My Mother's Jewel, By Mrs. Eames, 60 

Herbert Atherton, 40 

The Little Episcopalian, 60 

Love, the Motive Principle, 26 

The Sign of the Cross, 60 

The Life oi Bp. White. By Rev. J. N. Norton. 

The Life of Bp. Griswold, Do. 

Edward Howard, By M. E. J., 40 

Life of Bp. Chase, By Rev. J. N. Norton. 

Life of Bp. Seabury, Do. 

Life of Bt'. IIobart, Do. ^ 

Life of Bp. Moore, Do. 

History of a Pocket Prayer-Book, By Rev. Dr. Dorr, . .50 

LiFB OF Henry Martyn By Rev. D. P. Sanford, 40 

1 



PAKISH LIBRARY CONTINUED. 

LiFi. OF Bp. Dehon, By Rev. J. N. Norton. 
LiFK OF Bp. Gadsdkn, Do. 

Life of Bp. Heber, Do. 

Child of Faith, By Rev. E,. B. Fairbairn, 25 

Life of George Herbert, By G. L. Duyckiuck, 60 

Velvet Cushion, By Cujiningliam, 30 

Mirage of Life, 30 

Life of Bp. Bavenscroft, By Rev. J. N. Norton. 

Bessie Melville : Sequel to Little Episcopalian 66 

Life of Bp. Wainwriout, By Rev. J. N. Norton. 
Life of Bp. Clagqett, Do. 

Life of Bp. Cboes, Do. 

Life of Bp. Henshaw, Do. 

Aunt Charity, By Mrs. E. L. Northrop, 60 

Life of Bp. Bowen, By Rev. J. N. Norton. 

Life of Bp. Ken, By G. L. Duyckinck, 60 

Life of Bp. Freeman, By Rev. J. N. Norton. 

Life of Bp. Bass. 

Life of Bp. Stewart, of Quebec. 

Lives of Phelps and Nash, 40 

Why I AM A Churchman, By Dr. Randall, 20 

Rainbow in the North, By Miss Tucker, 60 

Bunrise in the Tropics, Do. 60 

Magdala and Bethany 40 

Life of Bp. Provoost, By Rev. J. N. Norton, .40 

Life of Jeremy Taylor, By G. L. Duyckinck. 
Ami Grant, ob tue One Motive, By Miss Sewell. 
9 tV 

^' 
«7 



LIBRARY OF CONGRESS 

III! """ "" 




010 546 542 7 



